


Sleeplessness

by tellezara



Category: Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney
Genre: Gen, gen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-03
Updated: 2013-01-03
Packaged: 2017-11-23 12:30:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/622158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tellezara/pseuds/tellezara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phoenix Wright, aged 9, is having a sleepover at his house. However, things turn a little awkward when Miles starts having a bad dream, and Phoenix learns some things about his quiet friend...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleeplessness

Phoenix stirred in his sleep, the sound of a rustling duvet rousing him to wakefulness. He opened his eyes, only to have a mountain of cloth land on his face. Alarmed, he pushed it away, and sat upright in his sleeping bag to see that Miles, who was sleeping on the sofa above him, was making flailing movements with his arms and legs. He’d become tangled up in the duvet he was sleeping under and couldn’t get free, causing some of it to fall in Phoenix's face, and as Phoenix’s eyes adjusted to the darkness he could see that Miles’ eyes were still closed and he had a look of terror on his face, caught in the throes of a nightmare. Phoenix scrambled out of his sleeping bag, standing up to grab the duvet. It was feather-filled and heavy, and he wrestled with it for a few seconds before finally lifting it clear of his friend, who was still thrashing around on the sofa. Phoenix dumped the duvet on the carpet and grabbed Miles by the shoulders, shaking him.

“Wake up, wake up!” he whispered.

Miles’ eyes flew open in the darkness and he struggled to sit upright. Phoenix let go of his shoulders but Miles clutched at him, unable to see properly in the dark just yet. Phoenix stiffened as his friend hugged him tightly around the waist. Miles’ whole body was shaking and he said just one word:

“Father…”

Phoenix stood there for a moment, not sure what to do, then slowly, awkwardly, he put his arms around Miles' quivering shoulders.

“Your Dad’s not here, Edgey,” he said quietly. “But the bad dream’s gone so you'll be alright.”

There was a second’s silence, then Miles jerked and pulled away from him. Phoenix caught a glimpse of his face and the look of complete mortification upon it, and the next instant Miles had climbed over the back of the sofa and fled the living room. Phoenix was left standing in front of the sofa, and all the while Larry snored away in the corner, completely dead to the world. Phoenix sighed to himself. This sleepover wasn’t turning out so well. He padded towards the living room door and peered out. Miles was nowhere to be seen, but he heard a noise coming from the kitchen. He hesitated, wondering what to do - should he follow him, or leave him alone? No, he was supposed to be the host and look after his guests - that was what Mum had told him when he'd asked if he could have his friends over for the night. He had to be responsible, and suddenly he knew what he had to do. He walked over to the kitchen door and pushed it open.

Miles was sitting in the furthest corner, between two cupboards, knees tucked up beneath his chin, looking completely miserable. He looked up when Phoenix came in, and tried to wedge himself even further into the corner. Phoenix paused a moment, opened his mouth to say something, then decided against it and ignored him, switching on the light and climbing onto a chair to get to the high kitchen counter. He looked at the kettle dubiously for a few moments, then pressed the big button at the top, hooking down two mugs from the rack and reaching as far as he could across the counter, fingers brushing at the tin that was almost out of his reach. He finally caught hold of it, bringing it towards him and taking off the lid. The kettle huffed and puffed as he spooned some of the tin’s contents into the two mugs, and a few moments later the bubbling kettle switched itself off with a click. 

Phoenix needed to use both hands to lift it up and the boiling hot water slopped over the sides of the mugs as he poured it in, some of it running off the counter and dripping onto his knee. He winced and shifted out of the way of the drip, putting the kettle back on its stand. After topping the mugs up with some cooler water from the tap he grabbed a spoon from the drawer next to him and stirred the mugs as quietly as he could. Then he grabbed the first one and, holding it carefully, got off the chair and set it down on the floor next to the boy crouched by the cupboard. Then he got back on the chair again to fetch his own mug, settling down on the floor next to Miles without a word, blowing on his mug of drink to cool it down.

The pair of them sat there for a while in silence. Then Miles mumbled,

“I’m so weak.”

Phoenix sipped a bit of his drink – it was still a little too hot, so he put it back down on the floor again.

“You’re not weak, Edgey,” he said. “I have bad dreams sometimes too, and I’m no wuss, so that means you’re not either.”

“No, really, I’m a complete coward, calling out for Father like that. I should be able to say “Go away” in my dream when I don’t like what’s happening, but I just can’t... how can I stand up for society as a defense lawyer if I can't deal with my own nightmares?"

"Some bad dreams are too big to say "Go away" to," Phoenix shrugged. "Especially when you're really afraid of something and it turns up in your dream. I'm scared of high places and for ages I had this dream where I was stuck in a tower and couldn't get down. That one only went away after Larry dared me to climb that tree and I fell out of it."

Miles was silent for a few moments, then he reached down and picked up the mug Phoenix had set down for him. He held it cupped in both hands, looking at the contents.

"What's this?" he asked.

"It's Horlick's," Phoenix explained. "Mum always makes it for me when I can't sleep. It really does the trick. Try it, it tastes just like a maltshake, only hot."

"I've never seen this in the shops," Miles sipped it, eyebrows raising at the taste. "It's nice."

"Yup, sure is! It's from England, you can't get it here." Phoenix said. "We've got relatives living there and they send us some now and then. I'm glad I made it right, I've only ever watched Mum make it before." 

He didn't mention that in fact this was the first time he'd ever used the kettle - his Mum would have an absolute fit if she ever found out. He drank some of his own Horlick's, looking up at the clock. It said 3AM. He'd never been awake at this hour before in his life. It was strange, sitting in this silent kitchen with the blinds closed, knowing his parents were fast asleep upstairs. Like being in another world. He looked over at Miles, who had his mug resting on his knees so it was up at eye level. There were dark circles under his eyes that Phoenix had never really noticed before now. His Mum called them Panda Eyes - Dad often had them when he was working the night shift and was tired.

"Do you often get bad dreams?" Phoenix asked.

Miles nodded.

"You won't tell Larry, will you?" he asked anxiously.

Phoenix shook his head.

"Promise?"

"Promise," Phoenix assured him. "So are your dreams about the same thing, or different things?"

Miles stared into his mug, looking at the creamy-coloured swirls.

"Same thing... but I tell Father something different each time."

"Oh... So he doesn't know what your bad dream is about? But why?"

"'Cause... it's about Mother."

Phoenix's stomach twisted as he realised that he'd strayed into dangerous conversational territory with his question. He and Larry had blundered into that particular quagmire before, when they'd first met Miles Edgeworth, and that had left the three of them feeling so awkward that when they eventually re-established easy relations it had become an unspoken agreement to never mention it again. Phoenix looked warily at Miles, unsure of how to extricate himself from this line of enquiry, when the boy spoke again.

"Father misses her... I know he does. He talks to her sometimes, when he thinks I can't hear him. That's why I can't tell him about my nightmares."

Phoenix was intently studying the magnets on the fridge opposite him, trying to hide his surprise that Miles was talking to him so openly. He was so quiet most of the time, happy to go along with whatever he and Larry wanted to do unless it involved breaking school rules to any degree (which admittedly a lot of their activities did). What had come over him all of a sudden? It was as if what had happened in the living room had broken down some kind of barrier Miles had put up against him. He wasn't sure what to say, but he couldn't just let that silence stretch on or Miles was sure to clam up again.

"Hey, um, your Mum, Edgey, I know she, uh, died when you were really little, and everything..." Phoenix paused for a second, thoughts rapidly assembling in his head. "And I reckon, well, it's hard to dream about somebody you've only seen in photos, isn't it? So, maybe you want to think about her when you're sleeping but it comes out all wrong because you don't remember anything about her?" this all came out in a rush, then he added, "Maybe if you tell your Dad he can talk to you about your Mum and the nightmares will become good dreams again?" _That sounded so stupid...I shoulda just not said anything_

Miles didn't say anything in response. Phoenix shifted uncomfortably, remembering that time when he and Larry had knocked a girl over in the playground while playing Tag, and his attempts to apologise and console her about her ruined dress had left her in tears. Larry was right, he was such a lame-o when it came to stuff like this. Who was he to say such things to Miles anyway? He had both his parents - he couldn't really think of life without his Mum, so how could he talk about this kind of thing with Miles when he had no idea what it was like?

"I'm sorry," he said suddenly, moving to get up from the floor. "How can I tell you how to get rid of bad dreams when I still have them myself? I'm saying all this stupid stuff and it's not gonna make you feel any better."

"Wait, Nick," Miles grabbed his arm, stopping him from getting up.

Phoenix turned to look at him, still in a half-crouch, and his insides froze. Miles was crying - the tears were rolling down his face and seeing them there Phoenix felt his own eyes begin to sting. He'd made his best friend cry...

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I'm really really sorry," he sobbed, trying to pull away from him, but Miles held on, shaking his head.

"Nick, don't cry, please," he said quietly, though his own voice was wobbling. "It's not you, honest - you just got me thinking, that's all, and what you said is probably right." 

Phoenix was stunned into silence. His tears and Miles' plopped onto the floor as his friend continued talking.

"Mother died when I was two - I don't remember her at all, and the one time I did ask Father about it, he said that she caught an illness and died. He was really sad when he told me that so I didn't want to make him talk about it anymore. Then I started to have the dreams. She's always in a bed, and very sick, and she just gets thinner and thinner until she's a horrible skeleton and I try and reach out to her, but she's just bones that try and trap me and I can't get away. I can't seem to dream about anything else... and I wonder if what you said is true, Nick. If I could remember her properly maybe I could stop seeing her... d-d-d-dying whenever I g-go to s-sleep," he sniffled. "I wish she hadn't died!" he let go of Phoenix's arm to rub his wet eyes.

Phoenix sat back down again, wiping his own face with his pyjama sleeve.

"Y'know, Edgey," he said thoughtfully. "Grownups find it hard to talk to us sometimes. My Mum and Dad acted really weird around me for a week or so and when I asked them what was up they wouldn't tell me for ages, then they finally owned up and said they were thinking of giving me a baby brother or sister but were worried I wouldn't like the idea. Which is silly!" he scoffed. "Having a little brother would be totally amazing, I don't know why they thought I'd be unhappy about it. I mean, nothing came of it in the end 'cause Dad got downgraded and we didn't have enough money to move to a bigger house to put the baby in, but I was thinking maybe your Dad would like to talk to you about your Mum but he's worried about upsetting you like you're worried about upsetting him?"

It took Miles a little bit of time to process this long torrent of speech.

"So you're saying it's a two-way thingy?" he asked. "Like when you didn't know we had homework due and I didn't tell you we did because I thought you already knew?"

"Uhhh, well, kinda, in a 'you think I think you think you I think I'... sorry, I got a bit mixed up half-way through that."

Miles chuckled.

"You're always tripping over yourself like that," he said wryly. "But again, maybe you're right - I've never thought of it like that. Maybe he talks to Mother when I'm not around because he feels he can't talk to me about her. And that's not right. That needs to be addressed," he nodded to himself, suddenly determined. "That's the most logical thing! I've been thinking about it the wrong way all along. I'll never make a good defense attorney if I don't learn to look at things differently."

"Well, sometimes it's hard to do that when you're all caught up in it," Phoenix said. "So you gonna talk to your Dad then?"

"Yeah," Miles stood up, picking up his mug. "I think it'd help both of us, and I should've realised before now. I'll make sure I don't make that mistake again." He rubbed his eyes again, but this time he looked sleepy. "Thanks for the Horlick's, Nick," he yawned. "I think it's working. Give me your mug, I'll wash up, okay?"

"Naw, s'aright," Phoenix said, grabbing his. "I'm the host!" he said proudly. "So I'll wash up."

"I'll dry then," Miles grabbed the teatowel and the pair of them washed, dried and put away the mugs. Phoenix wiped the countertop where he'd spilled the water, and the kitchen looked as if it hadn't been used at all. It was then that he heard the sound of creaking floorboards above.

"Cripes, my parents are up!" Phoenix scrambled off the stool and pushed it back to where it belonged. "Quick, back to bed - they'll kill me if they catch me up at this time!"

The two boys dived out of the kitchen as they heard the sound of feet on the stairs. When Phoenix's Mum opened the living room door all she could see was her son and his friends fast asleep. She shut the door, then paused, listening for a few moments. Then she heard giggling. She shook her head, smiling - those boys. Phoenix would be tired tomorrow, but he'd had a lot of fun with his friends over and she was glad.

***

A few days later Phoenix saw that the dark bruising under Miles' eyes had vanished, and he seemed a lot happier and more alert. At the end of the week Miles burst into the classroom, his eyes shining with excitement.

"Father's letting me watch him in court tomorrow!" he exclaimed to Phoenix and Larry.

"Hey, that's cool!" Phoenix grinned. "You get to see your Dad in action at last!"

"Wow, is it a MURDER?!" Larry asked, grabbing his satchel. "Hey, Edgey, watch me beat Nick up, then you'll have to defend me and say I didn't do it!"

"OWWWW, hey!" Phoenix yelled as Larry's grubby satchel clonked him on the head. "Objection, that hurts!"

"Yeah, stop that!" Miles interjected, grabbing Larry's satchel away from him. "I'd never defend you anyway, Butz, you're always GUILTY!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

The three boys bickered, unaware that tomorrow Miles' life would change forever, and he'd be having nightmares of a completely different kind... for years to come.


End file.
